Path of Stars
by Neko Tsukimori
Summary: The second adventure. A shooting star falls on Earth- except it's not just a star. What follows is a quest of discovery, for things are not always what they appear to be. (Standalone fic)
1. Landing

**Summary: The second adventure. A shooting star falls on Earth—except it's not just a star. What follows is a quest of discovery, for things are not always what they appear to be.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Beyblade (Metal Fusion/Metal Fight), Bakugan, or any references that may appear.**

**WARNING: OOC-ness, AU, probable Mary Sue(s), and this warning will not be repeated.**

**When you see the summary, you may either think "How come I've searched the whole archive of Beyblade and Bakugan fanfiction but can't find any "first adventure" by this author?" or "How can this be a sequel if it takes place in two universes unrelated to the one in the first adventure?" or perhaps "This author is crazy. Why are they assuming we'd think of either of those things?". Well, I just completely fail at summaries, and this can be read as a standalone… ^.^; Please, pay the summary no mind, and enjoy.**

**-The Line Strikes Back!-**

_When I left my previous life and soared through that pathway of stars, it led to another world, where I found myself in a place unlike any other I had ever seen._

_I will warn you, this story may not be as happy as the last one, but with the help of some friends, I can now tell you more of the full story, starting from the very beginning._

_For when in my new life I finally flew again, I flew far, and I felt as though I could touch the very stars that had led me there. At that moment I was flying._

_And then I was falling…_

* * *

Ryuga was staring at his new treasure, the Bey L-Drago. With its power, it whispered to him, there was no one who could stop them. He looked out the window and saw a shooting star streak past, seeming closer than it should have been. Something about the sight jolted his memory, something he once knew and still should have known. But he brushed the feeling off, though some lingering doubt told him that things would change, for better or for worse, very fast and very soon...

Meanwhile, the star was indeed closer to the Earth than should have been. It landed in the outskirts of the town, throwing up a cloud of dust and dirt. Through the haze, two silhouettes were visible, one human like and the other could only have been called a dragon, without visible arms but with delicate wings that cradled the other figure. Before the air had cleared, the draconian figure was gone, leaving behind only what appeared to be a child cloaked in a hooded robe, holding a Bey.

"I'm alive," they whispered to it, "Thank you." Then they tucked the Bey inside a pocket and set off towards the town.

Kenta was cheerfully walking down the street, having just won one of the hourly local Bey tournaments, when he had bumped into someone. He looked up to see a …well, a person. Before he knew it, Face Hunters surrounded him.

"Somebody help me!" Only two people heard Kenta's scream. One had been sleeping, while the other had just arrived at the edge of town and broke into a run, anxious. Around Kenta, the Face Hunters counted down to the start of a battle. Kenta launched his Bey with shaking hands. As the two Beys clashed, the cloaked child had entered the town and felt a small prickling in the front of her skull. She stiffened up slightly and reminded herself to drink something that week.

Kenta was saved from defeat and the loss of his points by a different newcomer, who, with his Pegasus, easily took down all five of the Face Hunters, making himself known to them as Gingka. Kenta was awed by Gingka's strength and followed him when he left. When the Face Hunters were nearly out of sight, but Gingka and Kenta were completely gone, the cloaked girl finally showed up. She sighed while looking around the now empty area, still wondering about the scream, then caught a glimpse of the retreating Face Hunters and decided to follow them.

Benkei and the other four Face Hunters were getting berated by their leader and everyone's attention was on them, which was why no one noticed a small girl slip past them and hop up the support beams with seemingly inhuman agility. She had jumped up to a high beam, peeked down, and nearly slipped off the beam when she saw who was addressing the Face Hunters. Luckily, she managed to catch herself before she fell completely and began to hoist herself back up onto the beam. As the thoroughly scolded Face Hunters left, Kyoya made plans to deal with Gingka and above, the cloaked girl unconsciously brought up a hand to assure herself her hood was still up. Without the grip, she plummeted down and could not catch herself, landing directly in front of Kyoya.

"Well, what do we have here?" The girl struggled to stand to her feet, but was pulled up anyway when two of the Face Hunters grabbed her arms from behind and held her up. She cried out softly in pain as one of them gripped her right arm.

_No more falling off high rafters for now, I guess, _she thought. Kyoya was trying to peek at her face, but Rina kept her head down. Tentatively, he walked up and pulled back her hood, and his expression morphed from curiosity to abject terror. Kyoya backed away, and the girl took advantage of the moment by pulling away from the Face Hunters and running out of the construction site, pulling her hood back up on the way out. Kyoya stared into space, unbelieving, as though he had seen a ghost. He forced the thoughts away and began instructing his Face Hunters on his plan for the next day.

The next morning, Gingka's sleep was disturbed again, this time by a Benkei-shaped shadow looming over him. He was unfortunately surrounded by Face Hunters and worried Kenta into looking for him at the Face Hunters' base. Kenta found Gingka doing the 100-Bey battle with Kyoya watching from a hanging beam. Pegasus and Gingka did some weird glowy stuff while talking about Beyblade spirit as Pegasus defeated the Beys. Kyoya told Gingka he would still be defeated by Leone, and on that note Gingka and Kenta left.

The cloaked girl walked in again, escorted by Face Hunters. She walked over to the hanging beam where Kyoya was now sitting upright.

"You called?" The Face Hunters, barring Kyoya, had retreated to other areas of the site, not wishing to eavesdrop. Kyoya nodded, tense.

"I'm not sure we've met before..." Kyoya relaxed slightly. "…Have we?"

"No," Kyoya glanced away briefly, "You seem to be a bit lost. Why don't you tell me your story and I'll tell you mine." She nodded eagerly. _Maybe I'm not alone here after all…_

And later that day, the girl walked out of the construction site, lightness in her step and a smile on her face.


	2. Leone's Roar

**Summary: The second adventure. A shooting star falls on Earth—except it's not just a star. What follows is a quest for discovery, for things are not always what they appear to be.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade Metal Fusion, Bakugan, or any other things in this story that belong to someone else, barring elements and themes which appear later.**

**Well, yes. I'm claiming some plot elements because I've never seen another fanfiction with the ideas I have in mind, though that might just be because they're insane and stuff. And just who is the cloaked girl who didn't show up in time? (Really, they were supposed to do the disclaimer.)**

**Cloaked girl: Sorry.**

…**And she is just called "cloaked girl" for now because her name hasn't been revealed yet and she is a girl. Wearing a cloak. I'm so original. (sarcasm)**

* * *

The next day, the wind blew strong upon the top of a tower. On the top of the tower stood Kyoya, leader of the Face Hunters, Gingka, Kyoya's opponent, Kenta, Gingka's friend, and Madoka, some random person who bugged Gingka into taking her along under the pretense that Pegasus was "unfit for battle". At the base of the tower, the cloaked girl was late (**again**) and had just walked into the building. She missed the first few minutes of the battle, but at least she had attended to her arm and it was hurting less. When the two Beys were launched, the girl winced and pressed a hand to her forehead.

_I guess Leone is really powerful, _she thought. Up at the top of the tower, Gingka was having trouble. Leone was somehow creating cyclonic winds, which were nearly blowing everyone except Kyoya off the tower and making straight on attacks useless. Madoka had said it was something about "directing airflow with slots", but Gingka didn't think a slot could cause a gust strong enough to nearly blow Kenta off the tower when Pegasus charged Leone. The cloaked girl had just arrived at the scene, and quickly bent down and held the edges of her cloak to conceal herself, but in doing do she couldn't see the battle. Gingka's scarf had just blown off, giving him an idea.

"Pegasus, Starblast Attack!" Pegasus charged through the air, coming down straight on top of Leone. The winds let out a final gust, and then Leone slowly stopped spinning. A flicker of movement during Pegasus's final charge had drawn Gingka's attention to someone else, however.

"Hey! Who are you?" The cloaked girl froze and then slowly looked up, holding her head. She felt as though something was slowly clawing its way out of her skull. Then, she spoke, in a raspy voice like a knife against stone that caused all there to shiver and Kyoya to step back.

"You foolish human… You dare ask me—Ah!" The girl collapsed holding her head. Gingka blinked. She stood up and stole a quick apologetic glance back at the stunned Kyoya before running away.

Kenta, Gingka, and Madoka were all confused. What had happened with the cloaked girl, and her sudden appearance and disappearance made Gingka suspect that she wasn't exactly on the side of good, but curiosity compelled him to try to follow her all the way down to the streets. Just when they had given up searching and were beginning to think it was just some strange hallucination, Kenta spotted a flash of dark color at the corner of his vision. When he turned to look at it, he saw the girl sitting on top of a lamppost, kicking her legs. Kenta motioned Gingka over, but couldn't see Madoka in the crowd.

"What happened back there on the top of the tower? Who are you? Are you working for the Face Hunters?" Gingka was the first to speak. The girl shrugged.

"I don't know, everything just went black and then when I woke up you were all staring at me. My name is Rina, and I don't know who the Face Hunters are, but I shouldn't be talking to you because you're a stranger, so goodbye!" And with a wave of her hand Rina was off, leaping from lamppost to lamppost until she was out of sight. When she had gone far enough, she stopped and looked at her arm, then pressed the spot where she had fractured it. Rina frowned, puzzled at the lack of pain or any signs of it ever being broken at all. She just pushed the thought to the back of her mind and focused on jumping. Meanwhile, Madoka had finally squeezed through the crowd to Gingka and Kenta.

"There you two are! Say, did you find that girl?" Gingka nodded and then grinned.

"I'll tell you all about it later! I need a triple beef burger!"


	3. Deadly Ambition

**Summary: The second adventure. A shooting star falls on Earth—except it's not just a star. What follows is a quest for discovery, for things are not always what they appear to be.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own pretty much anything written here, or the word program it was written in, or the universes used within.**

**I realize that crossovers aren't very popular in general, but if anyone who stumbles upon this story has any feedback for me, especially criticism, it would be happily welcomed.**

* * *

"So, you can make me stronger?" Kyoya addressed the person. He was wearing a suit and had glasses with one lens broken.

"Yes. Strong enough to defeat even Gingka." The person spoke in what Kyoya supposed was a confident and persuasive tone, but sounded a bit sinister.

"I'll consider it." Kyoya did his best to seem uninterested.

"Well, if you want to think it over, I'll give you an hour. Meet me back at this place." With that, both exited the building. Kyoya immediately headed towards the construction site. When he entered, he looked to make sure no Face Hunters were near.

"Rina, I need some advice. Can you please get down from there?" Kyoya called up. Rina leapt down from a rafter and landed in a heap in front of Kyoya. She got up, mumbling something about needing to work on her landings. Acknowledging Kyoya, she asked,

"What is it?"

"Some person thinks they can make me stronger than Gingka. He doesn't seem very trustworthy, though." Rina was intrigued.

"I don't know… I wonder who this person is. It might just be me, but I feel like there's something bigger than just one person behind this. Maybe you should accept... Ow, my foot." Kyoya didn't protest. Perhaps he would get stronger. When the hour was up, Kyoya made his way back to the building.

"I accept your offer," Kyoya said, trying not to look annoyed. The person led Kyoya towards a helicopter, which took off soon after they were seated. He finally introduced himself as Doji, and said that Kyoya would be taken to a training facility. Apparently Doji was with an organization called the Dark Nebula.

_Rina was right_, Kyoya thought, watching Doji repeatedly prick his finger on a potted cactus, _it wasn't just one crazy guy in a tuxedo, it was a lot of them. Maybe I'll be able to find out who's really in charge here. _

Rina decided, since she had spent quite a lot of time jumping around the Face Hunters' hideout and they were starting to notice that she was there, she should take a little break. She walked out of the construction site in the direction of the Bey stadium. There, a certain blader was building up quite a winning streak—and a reputation—and was cheered on by Kenta and Madoka. Rina watched as Gingka won a series of battles without trouble and was finally declared the winner of that hourly tournament. Rina waited the last few minutes to enter the next tournament. And while she was waiting, she was hoping there would be a challenge.

"And now, this begins our next hourly tournament!" The Blader DJ announced as the crowd cheered. Many bladers faced each other, and unbeknownst to them Rina was concentrating as hard as she could, trying to manifest telepathic abilities and locate strong opponents. She had no success, but then it was her turn to fight, with her opponent being a child that looked around her age. The battle was over in a matter of seconds. Even the Blader DJ was surprised at how fast Rina's Bey had dispatched its opponent. For Rina, it was a pleasant surprise to find out what her Bey was capable of.

It probably wouldn't matter to anyone what happened towards the end of the tournament, because it was quite a letdown for any Rina supporters in the crowd. Rina had decided, for measures of secrecy, to drop out of the tournament. It wouldn't do her any good to expose who she was, and there was no point battling any more Beys when she didn't have a point counter. (Oh, and the author ran out of canon and decided to put this over a blank page. I hope you enjoyed it.)

**Neko: Rina… why did you have to say that… Moving on...**

Upon exiting Rina decided to play on the lampposts again. She was hopping along when she spotted Gingka entering a store and decided to watch.


	4. Charging In

**Summary: The second adventure. A shooting star falls on Earth—except it's not just a star. What follows is a quest for discovery, for some things are not always what they appear to be.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bakugan, Beyblade, or any other references that may make their way into here.**

**WARNING: This chapter may be unintentionally hilarious due to a Bey sharing names with a drink. You have every right to laugh every single time you read the name.**

**Well, I've temporarily run out of things to say, so I'll just give you the chapter instead.**

* * *

"Oh yeah!" Gingka cheered as he walked out of the store. He turned towards a random nearby person and started talking.

"You don't know me, but you'd probably like to, since I got a triple beef burger!" The passerby looked confused as Gingka waved around the package and danced off. "And it's the last one!" Rina nearly fell off the lamppost laughing.

Inside the Face Hunters' hideout, Benkei was repeatedly launching his Bey into the wall, yelling a battle cry to get revenge on Gingka. The Bey took a few chips out of the wall, but otherwise the launching had little effect. Benkei growled and picked up his Bey, ready to launch it again, when he saw the person it had landed near.

"You!" Benkei was practically in angry hysterics. "What have you done with Kyoya?!"

"He's in training, but if you want him back so badly," Doji smirked, "Defeat Gingka yourself… with this." Doji held out a Bey similar to the one Benkei had. Benkei took the Bey, expecting to get revenge soon.

Rina was walking out of a store carrying a package when she felt something odd. It felt as though someone, or something, was calling her. She rushed to the Face Hunters' hideout, where the calling led, to find Benkei staring at his hands, one holding Dark Bull and the other, Red Bull.

"I know I want to defeat Gingka, but to get rid of my old Bey…" Rina walked up and looked closely at Dark Bull before feeling a wave of nausea hit her. For a second she doubled over, and then it passed. Rina breathed slowly and deeply, trying to calm herself before looking at the two Beys again. Something about them both seemed as though they were like no other Bey she had seen since the day she arrived: sentient, alive.

"Can you hear me?" She whispered to no one in particular, though it seemed as though it was directed towards the Bey. To both her and Benkei's surprise, the Bey answered.

_Yes, I can hear you. My name is Damakor, _Red Bull responded. Benkei, who was still shocked at the fact that his Bey was talking, explained how Dark Bull was offered to him so he could defeat Gingka. _For you, and for your... friend I will do as you wish. _The Beys in Benkei's hands seemed to be drawn towards each other, like they had suddenly been magnetized, and when they hit each other, only one Bey remained, with the Dark wheel.

Rina was impressed by the Bey's show of devotion, and the spectacle that she had never seen before; so much she didn't notice the growing pain in her head. But the pain went away with no effect, and she decided to go up to the rafters figure out the use of a hot dog. After all, she had bought (read as: stolen) the last one.

Meanwhile at the Beyblade stadium, Kenta was battling his friends, with an easy victory for him, then Madoka started talking about different types of Beys, but no one was really listening except perhaps the audience. (**I thought we agreed to stop with the fourth wall breaking... **I didn't agree to anything!) Gingka burst in, still excited and dancing.

"Guys, guys! I got a triple beef burger!" Kenta was apparently more interesting than Gingka's burger, and Kenta and Madoka re-explained the types of Beys while Gingka wilted from the lack of attention. He opened the package and found…

"Huh? A hot dog?!" Meanwhile, Rina was opening her package to find…

"A burger? I think that's what it's called... What do I do with it?" Rina hoped no one was missing the strange object, but unfortunately, unknown to her, someone was.

Gingka enthusiastically added his information on Beys, which was met with much agreement by all those present. Benkei left the Face Hunters' hideout to challenge Gingka, but for some odd reason went to find Kenta and have him issue the challenge, which Gingka of course accepted.

"Is this really a good idea?" Madoka was quivering. Gingka had told her it was the heroic thing to do, but that hadn't eased her nerves one bit.

"Look, bananas!" Gingka pointed. Kenta sighed.

"We know they're bananas, Gingka, but look at the bull shaped hole in the crate." As they went further in, there were many more of those holes. Rina had been wandering around a different part of the area, assessing the damage Benkei had caused before he had gotten control of Dark Bull, when she had seen the bananas just sitting there inside the crates and decided to pick up a few.

"Gingka, I will defeat you!" Benkei's Bey burst right through the wall towards Gingka and his friends. After startling them, the Bey led Gingka to a dark room, where Benkei was waiting. When Gingka and Benkei launched their Beys, Rina again felt a sharp pain in her head, but ignored it as best as she could.

_The battle's started, _she thought as she walked towards the warehouse. Outside the entrance, however, the pain grew too great to ignore, and she knelt down, pressing her hands to her temples.

Madoka had looked up Dark Bull on her laptop, but there was no Bey by that name that she could find. She searched again and again, trying to find out something about the Bey to help Gingka win. Pegasus began to push Bull back, suddenly taking the advantage. When Gingka's Bey was about to land on top of Bull and finish it, Benkei unleashed his counterattack.

"Bull Uppercut!" Bull dug into the underside of Pegasus, until Gingka desperately shouted for it to "Fly!". Both Beys began to then push into each other in a renewed assault, creating a wind that blew the crates straight off the floor. Rina was holding down her hood and still pressing her hands against her head in an effort to push away the pain, and one crate blew towards Madoka and Kenta. Pegasus swiftly sped away from Bull to break the box, but the wind still persisted, blowing rubble towards Gingka, and Pegasus was not there to stop it. At the last moment, Benkei pushed Gingka out of the way.

"Benkei, you saved me."

"No I didn't! Continue battling!" Within seconds, the two Beys were clashing again, this time unleashing their special moves.

"Bull Uppercut!"

"Starblast Attack!" Pegasus's special move pulled out more powerful, giving Gingka the win. Gingka offered Benkei a hand, but he refused it and stormed off. Madoka stepped out of the warehouse and slipped on a strategically placed banana peel.

"So that's what it does…" All eyes turned towards Rina, who was attempting to look as though she hadn't done anything, especially not place that strange object's skin right there. She gave a grin and ran, with Gingka and his friends in close pursuit. When Rina decided to jump onto a lamppost again, the ground seeming to push her upwards, they went inside a nearby store and Gingka finally got a triple beef burger.

* * *

Omake

"Is this really a good idea?" Madoka quivered.

"Boo," said a bored sounding voice from behind her. Madoka screamed and ran.

"Kenta, did you hear something?" Gingka asked.

"Nope."

"I wonder where Madoka went."


	5. Captive

**Summary: The second adventure. A shooting star falls on Earth—except it's not just a star. What follows is a quest for discovery, for things are not always what they appear to be.**

**Disclaimer: I do not, nor would like to, own Bakugan, Beyblade, Miniclips, or any other things that are referenced.**

**WARNING: This chapter contains some Madoka bashing and Mary Sue-ness. I think.**

**I know that some people call Bey in this chapter as Cancer and others call it Gasher, but I wasn't sure which to put. Unless I have some request from a reviewer asking me to put it one way or the other, I'm sticking with calling it Gasher.**

**I'm finding writing alongside canon is getting a little tedious, so I'm going to try and deviate. At some point. When I figure out how. **_**If**_** I figure out how.**

* * *

When Gingka and his friend (plus someone he didn't really know all that well) walked out of the restaurant, Rina was waiting outside for them, standing on the ground for once. Gingka waved. Madoka huffed.

"Why can't that kid just leave us alone?" She muttered to herself.

"I have a name, and it's not 'that kid'. It's Rina." Rina had caught Madoka's remark, leaving Madoka in even more of a bad mood. Rina then realized that perhaps bothering Madoka wasn't the best idea, so she made herself scarce.

"Why were you so annoyed?" Gingka asked Madoka. Madoka just mumbled something about a bad day, and the three headed back to Madoka's shop.

A few days later, one of Kenta's friends burst in with his Bey badly scratched and a tear-stained story about a vicious blader. Just then, Rina was lounging on one of the rafters of the Face Hunters' base. After she and Benkei had sorted out the mess with Dark Bull, Benkei had relented after a bit of pestering and said he would let her stay in their base until Kyoya was back. She thought about her goals, and a little voice in the back of her head began to tell her a plan.

Rina eventually decided to take a walk. There was a forest just on the edge of town, and it wasn't long before she was there. Then Rina felt her foot sink into soft sand and looked up, wondering when the beach had come from. As far as she knew, beaches weren't normally next to forests. She saw a person approach, and suddenly she remembered something. There had been rumors of a vicious blader who scratched up peoples' Beys… Rina felt a murmur of approval in the recesses of her mind, and she spoke.

"If you are that person who scratches up peoples' Beys, I have a proposition."

Madoka marched into the forest with feigned bravery. Why had she even gone off in the first place to confront this blader? She had left her laptop with Kenta (he had wanted to play a game) and hardly had decent blading skills. Oh yes, Gingka had been considering letting Rina join them, and pointed out that at least Rina seemed to be a fairly skilled blader, after hearing about her performance in the hourly tournament. So she had gone off to defeat this blader and prove that she could use a Bey too.

Madoka stopped, wondering why there was a beach behind the forest. She looked over the edge of the beach, expecting to see water, but it was a long drop to reach it. Suddenly, Madoka felt a soft tap on her shoulder and whirled around to see Rina, grinning. She had probably just set up some kind of prank…

"Get back here!" Madoka chased after Rina, who was doing all she could not to trip and fall over laughing. Madoka chased Rina across the beach until she saw someone else nearby… holding a rope.

"Which way do you think she went?" Kenta asked. Gingka shrugged. Madoka had run off so suddenly that both of them hadn't noticed for several minutes. That, and Kenta had found yet another fun game on Miniclips.

"Huh?" Kenta and Gingka noticed the beach behind the forest and didn't understand it either. There was a strange Bey arena hollowed into a rocky stretch of ground.

"Crabby-crabbeeee…" A singsong voice interrupted their confusion. The owner of the voice was right in front of them, introducing himself as Tetsuya, the one who was scratching up peoples' Beys. He claimed to have captured Madoka and would not return her until one of them defeated him in a battle. Gingka, of course, played the part of the hero and challenged Tetsuya, who continued speaking using the word "crab" as many times as possible as the two launched their Beys into the arena. Pegasus was easily pushing back Gasher when Tetsuya sang a special move.

Sand poured out of the walls in the arena and Gasher began to grow taller than any Bey Gingka had ever seen before. Pegasus, with its Starblast Attack, still won. Meanwhile, Benkei had been wandering around the area for some reason when he thought he'd spotted Madoka hanging upside down and decided to untie her. Tetsuya was complaining that it was "best two out of three" when Benkei showed up with Madoka. Madoka walked over to Tetsuya, picking up his Bey and showing it to him. The scratches on it looked like a face, smiling.

"Gasher is smiling because it knows its purpose now…" Madoka flickered, revealing the form of Rina as she clutched her head and fell over.

"Rina?! What happened to Madoka?" There was no answer from Rina's prone figure.

"Heh…" Rina quietly began to laugh, pulling herself off of the ground. Was it just Gingka's imagination, or had she actually grown taller? No, that was impossible.

"That foolish girl… She played right into my hands…" Rina's voice had turned raspy again, like it had before on top of the tower. Gingka was beginning to panic. She pointed towards Tetsuya ("Crabba-what?").

"You… you have one of them… You will be a worthy opponent to celebrate my awakening! Now, let us begin!" She launched her Bey towards Gasher, and everything seemed to grow dark as the two clashed, and all that could be heard was a savage, tortured roar.


	6. Gasher's Claws

**Summary: The second adventure. A shooting star falls on Earth—except it's not just a star. What follows is a quest for discovery, for things are not always what they appear to be.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bakugan, Beyblade, or any other assorted references but I would like to apologize to all the Bakugan fans for the lack of things related to Bakugan in the story as of yet. Well, your wait is now over!**

**And… I know I have reduced some characters to a more minor role, especially Madoka, and some characters may not be able to appear without making their arrival seem forced (coughPhoenixcough). Also, many apologies for tons of unnecessary exposition and description instead of action, along with complete character mangling of Tetsuya…**

* * *

The area around them had been transformed. The sky had gone dark, taking away most of the light, except for small pinpricks of what seemed to be distant stars, but even those were slowly blinking out. A lobster-like creature faced a draconian one, and both towered far over any other nearby objects. Tetsuya gaped at the size of the lobster, which had appeared where Gasher had been only moments before. At the foot of the dragon stood Rina, who seemed almost as surprised as the rest of them, but enraged as well.

"Lythirus?! How… When did it betray us?" Rina seemed to be talking to herself more than to Tetsuya, who looked up at the lobster-like creature only to receive a shock as it spoke to him.

_Loyal. Did not betray. _Its mandibles clacked but the voice did not seem to come from them. Rather, it emanated from within the creature, much in a way that would have reminded Rina of how Bull had spoken to her and Benkei.

"Are you Lythirus?" Tetsuya wondered.

_Yes. Lythirus. Cancer. Gasher. Chose you. Did not betray._ Lythirus chattered and crouched, as though preparing to spring upon the wild-eyed, draconian creature. The creature let out another tortured roar, as Rina was commanding it to attack, but clutched its head in clawlike hands, partially fused with its wings and did not move from its place. Lythirus began to scuttle slowly forward, taking advantage of the other's hesitance. Gingka, Kenta, and Tetsuya could only watch in the darkening light as Lythirus prepared to pounce upon the other creature. Lythirus leapt, and Tetsuya closed his eyes, unwilling to watch, when a cry rang out.

"No!" The clearing was again filled with light. Tetsuya opened his eyes. Lythirus and the other creature had both vanished and again there were only his Bey and Rina's, while Rina herself lay on the ground, her hand outstretched towards her Bey. Kenta and Gingka went over to her, as she opened her eyes, seeming to have returned to her normal mentality, and quickly grabbed her Bey. Tetsuya went over and picked up Gasher. Across the edge were engraved symbols, which he could not understand, the same that had appeared on his Bey before the battle. The scratches still grinned at him from the face of the Bey, but it was a slightly conflicting image of two Gashers, one Tetsuya had known and battled with for years, and one that spoke, called itself Lythirus, and was part of some vicious, alien world that Tetsuya did not know.

Rina stood up slowly, her head pounding, when she caught a glimpse of Gasher's new markings and everyone's expressions, and her eyes widened.

"I'm sorry," She whispered softly, head bowed, "I couldn't… I'm so sorry…" Tetsuya scuttled off through one of the many caverns in the cliff face, and returned shortly with a mildly frightened, though unharmed, Madoka. The group then headed back to Madoka's shop to discuss what had happened, dragging Tetsuya with them.

"I'm sorreeeee! I was a bad crab, but don't crack my shell, crab!" Tetsuya whined.

"That's the guy who scratched up all those Beys! He tied me up! Why is he here? Can someone please tell me what's going on?" Madoka asked, frustrated. Benkei suddenly remembered that he had left his Bey back at the construction site and left to get it.

"Well, you see… Remember what happened at the tower after Gingka beat Kyoya?" Kenta asked. Madoka nodded. Of course she remembered how Rina had spoken in an evil voice, and said strange things that she claimed not to recall saying.

"Something like that happened again, just worse. There were so many things that just didn't seem quite real about it… and I think Rina's and Tetsuya's Beys were transformed into these huge creatures." Gingka said, "And Tetsuya's one seemed to be on our side."

"And Rina's?" Both of them looked towards Rina, who was curled up asleep on the couch in a fetal position. Gingka fell silent. He perked up again with a forced grin.

"Hey, how about we talk about this after some steak?" Madoka sighed, and guessed she would just have to finish touching up Kenta's Bey and ask again later. The next day, Rina stirred and woke up to the wonderful sight of Gingka holding his stomach and retching.

"What is it? What should I do?" Following Gingka's instructions, she found some medicine to help with food poisoning and gave it to him just as Kenta burst in.

"Gingka! Someone wants to battle you!"

* * *

**And lame chapter ending is lame.**


	7. Piercing Through Water

**Summary: The second adventure. A shooting star falls on Earth—except it's not just a star. What follows is a quest for discovery, for things are not always what they appear to be.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bakugan, Beyblade, or… well, practically everything in here except some ideas (which I almost regret owning).**

**If you thought last chapter was weird, raise your hand. And if you think this chapter is weirder, raise two hands. If you wish there was a break in the action, raise three hands. And if at least one of your arms is so tired you can hardly lift it, then my evil plan was a success. (evil laugh of evil) And yes, I'm raising three hands. Somehow. In my mind.**

* * *

"I don't think Gingka will even be able to walk there…" Rina said. "Maybe we should just tell them they need to wait until… How long until Gingka gets better?"

"I think this person won't want to wait… I overheard her while she was talking to Benkei, actually. She seemed really intent on battling Gingka, and Bey battling in general." At Kenta's response Rina pressured him for more details about the blader.

_If it's really that person Kyoya mentioned… I'm not having a good day, _Rina thought to herself after hearing Kenta's description. Madoka walked in to hand Kenta his Bey and then saw Gingka and decided to fuss about impatience in cooking steak while Kenta decided he would pretend to be Gingka. Rina, curious and having abandoned caution a while ago, decided to follow. They approached the area where the blader had been waiting, an arena made of stone fit more for a battle between warriors than one between spinning tops with magical powers.

_Same tastes as that person, it seems, _Rina mentally remarked, _and there's enough space here for…_ The blader, noticing the two, narrowed her eyes at Rina but made no action towards her. Rina almost recognized the action and attempted to dive into a bush. The blader introduced herself as Hikaru (Rina made a face from behind the bush) and declared she would defeat Gingka. Kenta declared that he was Gingka.

"So you're Gingka? Not that impressive if you ask me." Rina continued to make a face at this statement and wondered if Hikaru was here because of an attitude problem. But what really caught Rina's attention was Hikaru's Bey.

_Aquario, I think… Where can you get Beys like that here… Oh, of course. You get to take her partner with you when you get grounded. That's nice of them, really, _Rina began a ramble, luckily contained within her head. Aquario suddenly disappeared, seeming to blur out of existence. Saggitario was knocked out of the arena a second later, showing differently.

"What just happened?" Kenta couldn't understand how Aquario had vanished and his Bey knocked out with a single hit. Rina hopped out from behind the bush and shrugged, going to retrieve Saggitario. She felt its power, still dormant, and focused, even as pain began to flare inside her skull again.

Kyoya was at the bottom of a crevice and he was not happy. _When I get my hands on Doji…_ Gathering his breath, he began to scale one side of the rock face. He was about to reach a ledge… _Just one more handhold…_ Kyoya felt a ripple of some sort pass through and nearly lost his grip on the wall, catching his launcher on the ledge. He slowly began to pull himself up, wondering what could have caused something like that. When Kyoya reached the ledge he collapsed, exhausted, hearing distant howls that seemed to get closer and closer…

Rina was in a similar state, but it had manifested as a blinding headache. _Why is everything so dark…?_ She thought she heard the clop of hooves, and a high-pitched screech.

"Oh look, the stars…" Rina mumbled, dazed and not noticing the two giants. One was a bluish winged snake, which let out another screech. The other, a knight-like centaur, was standing in the most military stance a centaur could, a bow at the ready. Rina blinked.

"Hmm… That's Krakenoid of course, what's that other one… I don't remember learning about anything like that, I probably forgot to study…" Rina was struggling to stay conscious. _No, don't fall asleep. If you fall asleep now that will be bad. Wake up, _she thought to herself. _Nap, _herself thought back.

"Centorrior? I thought that mutant monstrosity was defeated ages ago!" Hikaru was in a state of complete shock, like seeing a villain from ancient legend come to life right in front of her. Well, actually that was what happened, so I suppose the analogy is too literal. Kenta gaped. Centorrior aimed at Krakenoid and notched a glowing arrow. The sudden night sky that had come over them seemed to be lightening, patches of dark replaced with sunlight.

Centorrior released its arrow. Suddenly the landscape became normal again. Hikaru looked around for a second, shocked, and then decided to give an unconcerned "hmph" and stomp off. Kenta picked up Saggitario, only to find parts of it covered with strange engravings. Rina's head began to feel less pained, but a wave of exhaustion still swept over her.

"Come on, Rina, let's go back," Kenta said. Rina gave a sleepy nod. Following Kenta, she hoped that Kyoya would be back soon. She hadn't seen him in a while…

* * *

**Rina's thoughts: **_**Napnapnapnapnap…**_


End file.
